Archbishop blames child abuse, neglect, on gays and de factos

Catholic Archbishop of Perth Barry Hickey blames same-sex couples and de facto couples for an increase in child abuse and neglect.

In his weekly online address, Hickey labelled same-sex unions and single people using IVF as "damaging alternatives" to traditional marriage, reports The West Australian.

He warned people not to be "seduced by the lie that any form of relationship is suitable for children".

"It could get worse: we could have motherless or fatherless families on the rise, and with lobbies advocating same-sex marriages and in-vitro babies for singles," Hickey said.

"Who is prepared to say enough is enough and that the best environment for children is to be with their mother and their father committed to each other in marriage?"

Irina Cattalini, CEO of the WA Council of Social Service, told the newspaper that marriage was no guarantee of a child's wellbeing.

"All children, regardless of the sex or relationship of the parents, need to be cared for in safe, nurturing environments, to live in secure accommodation, have access to early child health and education services, and need for their parents to have a liveable income, employment and support to recover from mental health or drug and alcohol afflictions," she said.

National convener of Australian Marriage Equality Alex Greenwich agreed that research showed marriage was good for children, but said it did not matter if the parents were an opposite-sex or same-sex couple.

"To deny us rights, then attribute all this pain and suffering to gay people is taking a very narrow and naive view," he said.

Hickey's comments fly in the face of the latest research showing yet again that children raised by lesbian couples do as well if not better than their peers raised by opposite-sex couples.

A recent study titled Quality of Life of Adolescents Raised From Birth by Lesbian Mothers: The US National Longitudinal Family Study found that 17 year olds raised from birth by lesbian mothers were just as happy as those raised by heterosexual couples.

Lead author Loes van Gelderen from the University of Amsterdam said in a statement: "Consistently, over the past three decades, researchers have found that the daughters and sons of same-sex parents are psychologically well-adjusted. Now our new data demonstrate that 17 year olds raised from birth by lesbian mothers are as happy as their peers."